Yu Kuai (; born 28 January 2001 in Shanghai), also known as James Yu, is a Chinese racing driver set to compete for Audi Sport Asia Team Absolute in GT World Challenge Asia.
Yu is the 2023 Sepang 12 Hours winner and is also an Audi Sport Asia Young Driver.
Early career Born in Shanghai, Yu moved to Japan in 2011 to start his karting career, where he competed against Yuki Tsunoda, Marino Sato and Nirei Fukuzumi.
Stepping up to single-seaters in 2016, Yu competed in Formula Masters China for two years, in which he scored four wins which all came in 2017, three of which at the second Sepang round and the fourth win came at Zhuhai on his way to finishing fourth in the standings.
At the start of 2018, Yu joined Chase Owen Racing to compete in the 2018 F3 Asian Championship. Switching to Zen Motorsport for the rest of the season, Yu stayed with them as he returned to the series for two more seasons, where he scored a pole position at Sepang in 2019–20 but never scored a podium in his three-year tenure in the series.
Following the 2019–20 F3 Asian Championship, Yu was given the opportunity by Han Songting to compete in the Chinese GT Championship.
In 2021, Yu joined Team StarChase to compete in Porsche Carrera Cup Asia. Yu scored his first win at Ningbo and took two more wins at Zhuzhou to finish third in the standings.
GT career Yu began 2023 by winning the Sepang 12 Hours with Absolute Racing, and remained with them for his first full season in GT World Challenge Asia, alongside Andrew Haryanto. In his first year in the series, Yu achieved his maiden win in GT3 competition at Motegi, and also scored his second win in the final round at Sepang in race one after starting from pole. Yu ended the season eighth overall and sixth in the pro-am standings.
Yu returned to GT World Challenge Asia and Absolute Racing for the 2024 season, pairing up with Akash Nandy. Scoring two poles in his second season in GT World Challenge Asia, Yu achieved his third overall win in the series at the penultimate round of the season at Okayama in race one. At season's end, Yu was eighth overall and third in the Silver standings. At the end of 2024, Yu made his debut at Macau, racing in the FIA GT World Cup for Uno Racing Team. Yu finished 20th in his maiden outing at the street circuit.
The following year, Yu switched to Phantom Global Racing to race alongside Franky Cheng Congfu, scoring an overall win at Buriram and three more class wins to secure the Silver Cup title at season's end. Kuai remained with the team for 2026, as he was paired up with Cheng for the second consecutive season.
Education Yu studied at Mander Portman Woodward for his A-Levels from 2018 to 2020, where he received an A* in Sociology and A in both Mathematics and Physics. He currently studies at the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies at Keio University. He has graduated from King’s College London with a bachelor's degree with Honours in Philosophy.
Racing record Racing career summary SeasonSeriesTeamRacesWinsPolesF/LapsPodiumsPointsPosition 2016 Formula Masters China Super License Team 15 0 0 0 1 94 5th 2017 Formula Masters China Absolute Racing 18 4 5 2 5 139 4th2018 F3 Asian Championship Chase Owen Racing 3 0 0 0 0 84 7th Zen-Motorsport 9 0 0 0 0 2019 F3 Asian Championship Zen-Motorsport 15 0 0 0 0 54 8th 2019–20 F3 Asian Championship Zen-Motorsport 15 0 1 0 0 70 9th 2021 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia Team StarChase 14 3 6 0 7 2553rd 2022 China Endurance Championship Absolute Racing 2023 Sepang 12 Hours Absolute Racing 1 1 1 0 1 N/A1st GT World Challenge Asia – GT3 Audi Sport Asia Team Absolute12 2 1 0 2 90 8th GT World Challenge Asia – GT3 Pro-Am 2 1 0 2 96 6th2024 GT World Challenge Asia Audi Sport Asia Team Absolute12 1 2 0 3 70 8th GT World Challenge Asia – Silver 3 7 0 10 189 3rd FIA GT World Cup Uno Racing Team 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 20th2025 GT World Challenge Asia FAW Audi Sport Asia Team Phantom12 1 2 0 2 80 8th GT World Challenge Asia – Silver 4 6 0 10 2111st China GT Championship – GT3 610 Racing 2 0 0 0 2 33 13th Shanghai 8 Hours – GT3 Silver-Am 326 Racing Team 1 0 0 0 0 3rd2026 GT World Challenge Asia FAW Audi Sport Asia Team Phantom GT World Challenge Asia – Silver Sources:
Complete Formula Masters China results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 DC Points 2016 Super License Team SHI1 SHI2 SHI3 ZHU1 ZHU2 ZHU3 CHA1CHA2 CHA3 SEP11 SEP12 SEP13 SEP21 SEP22 SEP23 PEN1 PEN2 PEN3 5th 94 2017 Absolute Racing SEP11 SEP12 SEP13 SEP14 SEP21 SEP22 SEP23 SEP24 ZIC11 ZIC12 ZIC13 ZIC21 ZIC22 ZIC23 SIC1 SIC2 SIC3 SIC4 4th 139
Complete F3 Asian Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Pos Points 2018 Chase Owen Racing SEP11 SEP12 SEP13 7th 84 Zen-Motorsport NIS11 NIS12 NIS13 SIC1 SIC2 SIC3 NIS21 NIS22 NIS23 SEP21 SEP22 SEP23 2019 Zen-Motorsport SEP1 SEP2 SEP3 CHA1 CHA2 CHA3 SUZ1 SUZ2 SUZ3 SIC11 SIC12 SIC13 SIC21 SIC22 SIC23 8th 54 2019–20 Zen-Motorsport SEP11 SEP12 SEP13 DUB1 DUB2 DUB3 ABU1 ABU2 ABU3SEP21SEP22SEP23CHA1CHA2CHA3 9th 70
Complete GT World Challenge Asia results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 DC Points 2023 Audi Sport Asia Team Absolute Audi R8 LMS Evo II Pro-Am BUR1 BUR2 FSW1 FSW2 SUZ1 SUZ2 MOT1 MOT2 OKA1 OKA2 SEP1 SEP2 6th 96 2024 FAW Audi Sport Asia Racing Team Audi R8 LMS Evo II Silver SEP1 SEP2 BUR1 BUR2 FSW1 FSW2 SUZ1 SUZ2 OKA1 OKA2 SIC1 SIC2 3rd 189 2025 FAW Audi Sport Asia Team Phantom Audi R8 LMS Evo II Silver SEP1 SEP2 MAN1 MAN2 BUR1 BUR2 FUJ1 FUJ2 OKA1 OKA2 BEI1 BEI21st211
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